


Poison and Blooming Flowers

by dxxpblue



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Family Feels, Gen, Hurt Spencer Reid, Hurt/Comfort, Poison, Protective Derek Morgan, Season/Series 01, Spencer Reid Needs a Hug, Spencer Reid Whump, Vomiting, lemme give him a hug :(, not for Gideon lovers oops-
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-24
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-16 20:02:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28962117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dxxpblue/pseuds/dxxpblue
Summary: While Reid and Morgan are out interviewing a victim's girlfriend, they realize that she's actually the unsub. Too bad they only discovered that fact after she poisoned Reid.
Relationships: Derek Morgan & Spencer Reid
Comments: 10
Kudos: 157





	Poison and Blooming Flowers

**Author's Note:**

> I made this one shot like two weeks ago, yet I've only now gotten to editing it-
> 
> This can be read as either platonic or romantic, whichever floats your boat lmao :)

_ We drink the poison our minds pour for us and wonder why we feel so sick.  _

\- Atticus

***

Spencer sat nervously on an old lumpy coach while Morgan tried to ignore the younger Agent's fidgety behaviour. Usually JJ or Elle were tasked with interviewing witnesses, but today Gideon had gone and suggested that Reid and Morgan be the ones to speak with a grieving girlfriend.

He knew that Gideon just wanted him to branch out and start developing some semblance of social skills, but Reid was not at all equipped to deal with someone who had recently lost a loved one-

“Reid?” Morgan gently nudged his elbow into the younger male’s ribs. He looked up at the older man who was staring at him with concern, and Reid swallowed before responding,

“Sorry… I’m just not good with this sort of thing.” 

Morgan gave him a sympathetic look, “It’s okay man, I totally get it. Just let me do most of the talking and then we can be on our way.” 

Reid felt his body losing some of his tension and he leaned back onto the sofa. When he had gone to speak with Gideon about his worries, the older man had seemed heavily disappointed in him- He assumed that the others would be too, but he was pleasantly surprised to see that wasn’t the case.

He knew that Gideon meant no harm in the end… He just wanted Reid to reach his full potential and in order to do that sometimes he had to give the younger man a little push. Okay maybe “little” wasn’t accurate, but it was a push in the end-

He sighed, looking around the room they were currently seated in. It was decorated nicely; Several potted plants could be spotted on the floor and shelves and a fireplace was on one side of the room, the fire casting a warm glow throughout the space. Pictures of what seemed to be a happy couple lined the walls and Reid felt a sad expression growing on his face.

They had been called in to investigate recent poisonings of several males within the area. So far they hadn’t been able to find a connection between any of the victims, but 3 people were dead and the police were worried that the body count would only keep rising.

They had come here to interview the girlfriend of the 1st victim. She seemed exhausted and closed off from the moment she opened the door, but it wasn’t as if Reid could blame her. If he lost someone he loved, he was sure he’d be just as distant as well…

Once she had led them to her cozy living room, she had given them a sad smile and asked if they wanted anything to drink. Morgan had declined, but seeing as Reid had been up since 5 am trying to finish his geological profile he had politely asked for a cup of coffee.

Derek, as he always did, teasingly told the girl just how much sugar the younger man liked in a cup and Reid would’ve been upset had it not been for the fact that a genuine smile had flitted onto the girl's features.

She had then excused herself to go make him said coffee and now sat Morgan and Reid, waiting for her to return to inevitably talk about her boyfriend's death.

After a few moments of them waiting in silence, the only sounds coming from the kitchen, the young lady returned with a patterned mug, the scent of coffee already making its way over to Reid.

He knew that the coffee was only going to make him more anxious, but he also knew that his anxiety was sometimes triggered from sleep deprivation. So, it was either no coffee and be anxious and tired, or have coffee and be alert but on the cusp of a panic attack-

Reid sometimes hated his brain-

“Here you go.” She said in a gentle voice as she handed him the mug. Reid immediately took a small sip from it, before placing it down on a coffee table in front of him.

“Thank you!” He gave her a warm smile and tried to ignore the way the coffee felt going down his throat.

It tasted sort of weird- Not bad or anything, but like the drink was thicker than it should be…

He chalked it up to her coffee machine and tuned into the conversation that was surely important. Morgan was asking her questions about her boyfriend, all the while being polite and empathetic. She seemed upset as expected, but Reid couldn’t help but notice that among her sadness, there was an underlying sense of anger.

Perhaps the anger was directed at herself, for not being able to help her boyfriend?

He took another sip of the thick coffee and watched as her eyes shifted to him for a split second before returning to Morgan. The older Agent was asking her if her boyfriend had any enemies and she was fidgeting in her seat.

3 conflicting emotions; sadness, anger and now nervousness.

He barely had any experience when it came to interviewing loved ones of a victim, but even he could tell that something was off with her behaviour.

He glanced at Morgan for a split second and their eyes met briefly, communicating with each other silently.

He took yet another sip of the coffee, desperate to have the caffeine kicking in as soon as possible and watched the girlfriend for any more tells that pointed to abnormal behaviour.

Women were 7 times more likely to poison someone then men were. Using poison was actually the 6th most used murder weapon when it came to females, and that wasn’t even including posion gases since those went under the category of apshpyxiation. 

When they mentioned if her boyfriend had any enemies she had tensed. Maybe this was a case of revenge; the girlfriend found out her boyfriend was cheating on her and then decided to poison him.

Her motive probably grew from there. She only poisoned males and each of them were in relationships. They didn’t have any connections to each other but Reid wouldn’t be surprised if they found out the other male victims had been cheating.

He opened his mouth to confirm his theory, but just as he was forming the words, an intense pain shot through his head, causing him to momentarily squeeze his eyes shut.

When he reopened them he looked around the room in a daze. His vision was going in and out of focus and he found it very hard to hold onto even a single thought.

His ears were ringing and he felt like his limbs had been turned to lead. What was happening?!

His gaze landed onto the half empty mug of coffee and he internally cursed. He barely drank anything and yet the symptoms hit him this fast? Whatever she poisoned him with must’ve been extremely strong and high in dosage because normally poison symptoms don’t appear this quickly.

“Morgan-” He forced the ringing in his ears to subside as he slurred his friend's name. He looked over to the older man, a panic stricken look written over his face.

Morgan turned to look at Reid, his eyebrows knitting together, “Reid? You alright?”

He felt like the world was spinning around him, causing nausea to bubble in his stomach. He could feel sweat running down his forehead but wasn’t it funny that he actually felt sort of cold?

No it wasn’t funny, at all- His sluggish brain tried reminding him that he was potentially going to drop dead if he didn’t get whatever was in his system out.

His vision swam back into view again and he turned to look at the woman responsible for doing this to him. 

“...Poison-” He barely managed to form the word correctly. His tongue felt heavy in his mouth and his body sagged into the couch.

Everything was blurry and dark around the edges and that horrible ringing was back in his ears. He only vaguely registered Morgan shouting and then a female figure sprinting from the room. Why wasn’t Morgan going after her?

He felt his body tilting as he fell sideways onto the couch, groaning as his limbs felt like they were on fire.

“Hey pretty boy, look at me okay?” He hadn't even realized he closed his eyes- He groggily forced them open, noting that Morgan was crouched right in front of him, a fearful look on his face,

“What- What’s wrong?” Reid asked, his voice hoarse. He felt like he should know what was bothering the older Agent, but his body and head hurt too much to think properly.

“We need to get you a hospital.” He was already grasping Reid by his shoulders and pulling him back into a sitting position. Reid whined at the movement and Morgan gave him an apologetic look.

“Whys do we has to go to the hos… hospital.” He forced himself to properly enunciate the word hospital, but even doing that left him feeling drained. He closed his eyes again, deciding that a little nap couldn’t hurt, right?

“Hey! I need you to stay awake.” Morgan was tapping his cheek, encouraging the younger man to open his eyes. He whined again but after hearing Morgan’s pleading tone, he forced them to open once more.

“Okay good- Keep your eyes open.” Morgan’s face shifted to one of relief, but it was short lived. His eyes scanned Reid who was getting paler by the minute and then he quickly made a decision.

The young genius could barely sit upright, there was no way in hell that Morgan was going to get him to stand. That was why he hooked his arms under his legs and shoulders before lifting him bridal style.

It was perhaps the most telling about how sick Reid felt that he didn’t even protest. His head just sort of rolled onto Morgan’s chest and he closed his eyes again.

“Pretty boy, I told you to keep your eyes opened.” Morgan chastised as he quickly made his way out of the house and to the black SUV. Reid took a moment, breathing heavily before his unfocused eyes looked up at the sky.

This was bad. That was the one coherent thought that was running through Morgan’s head. He didn’t have the chance to chase after the unsub, too scared to leave Reid poisoned on the couch, and so she ended up getting away.

And now in a span of minutes Reid had gone from coherent to barely being able to keep his eyes open-

Morgan shifted Reid in his grip as they reached the car, turning his body so that he could grab onto the passenger door. He swung it open and as gently as he could, sat Reid’s limp form onto the seat and buckled his seatbelt for him.

Just as he was about to shut the door Reid suddenly lurched to the side and Morgan barely had enough time to jump back before Reid was spilling the contents of his lunch onto the pavement, his lunch being coffee-

“Are you still with me Reid?” Morgan asked after the younger man had finished gagging. Reid brought his sleeve up to wipe his mouth before nodding groggily.

He shut the door before quickly running to the drivers side, already pulling out his keys and phone. He jammed the keys into the ignition and didn’t waste any time in pulling away from the house, trying to remember where the nearest hospital was.

He was still gripping his phone and using one hand he dialed Hotch’s number, glancing at Reid briefly and letting out a sigh of relief when he noticed the man was still awake, if barely.

He held the phone up to his ear in one hand as he drove rather recklessly through the streets. God, he had no idea where the hell he was going-

The phone thankfully only rang twice before Hotch’s voice came through the speaker, “Hotchner.” He said in lieu of greeting.

“Hotch-” Morgan’s heartbeat was pounding in his chest and he had to take a deep breath before he could speak again, 

“Morgan, what’s wrong?” Apparently from the one word he had spoken, Hotch had been able to tell that he was panicked.

“It’s Reid- The girlfriend was the unsub and she poisoned Reid before getting away…” He felt guilt swirl inside him at having to admit that he let a serial killer just get away, but he knew that if he had pursued her Reid probably would’ve died on the sofa-

“Is he responsive Derek?” Morgan could hear shuffling on the other line and he turned to look at the younger male once again. He was hazily looking out the window and his breathing sounded sort of weird

“Reid man, are you with me?” Reid’s nose scrunched as if he didn’t hear him but after a moment he turned his head to the side to look at Morgan,

“Don feel well…” He whined, his words slurring together. 

“I know, just try and stay awake-” He felt despair bubble inside him at how useless he felt right now. All he could do was offer comforting words to the younger man when he wasn’t even sure he could hear him in the first place.

He turned back to look at the street, and quickly turned down onto a main road, “He’s not doing well Hotch- Whatever she poisoned him with, it’s extremely strong. The kid developed symptoms in minutes and he’s only getting worse.”

Dammit, why did he let Reid drink the coffee in the first place. He knew they were investigating a series of poisons so he should of been on more alert-

“Okay, I have directions to the nearest hospital. I’ll stay on the line and tell you where to go but don’t worry about staying in the speed limit. Turn on your sirens if you have to.” Morgan nodded, despite the fact that the other man couldn't see before he quickly switched on the SUV’s sirens. Almost immediately, cars got out of the way from him and he prayed to a god that he wasn’t sure he believed in, that they would make it to the hospital in time.

Hotch gave him the directions and from the other line Morgan could hear the older man shouting to Gideon and the others about what had happened. His fist clenched the phone tighter at the remembrance of why Reid was even at the house in the first place.

Reid just turned 24 years old, he was still a child in Morgan’s book. Yet Gideon continuously kept pushing him into situations where it was obvious he was uncomfortable.

Morgan tried understanding; He knew that in order for Reid to learn new skills he’d have to put himself out there, but Gideon always sent the young genius into situations with a pat on the back and some half assed reassurance. It was like throwing a kid into a pool and telling them to swim when they didn’t know how.

Probably the worst part out of all that, was the fact that Reid felt like Gideon was doing him a favour-

He took a deep breath, trying to remind himself that the older Agent had no way of knowing that the girlfriend would end up being the unsub and instead he focused on the road.

If Reid died here, Morgan didn’t know what he’d do.

Over the past 2 years of knowing Reid, Morgan had developed a huge soft spot for the kid. Hell, he even thought of Reid like a brother. He constantly teased the younger man, but the other knew that Morgan would do anything for him…

And now Reid might die and Morgan wasn’t sure how he’d live with himself if he did.

He looked over at Reid again and cursed when he noticed the younger man was no longer awake.

“Hotch- I think he’s dying-” Morgan couldn’t stop the panic from seeping into his voice. Reid’s body was limp and his breathing was even more messed up than it was earlier.

He heard Hotch’s breath hitch on the other line and there was a beat of silence before he responded, “Drive as fast as you can Derek. You’re almost there.”

Morgan didn’t bother responding as he pressed his foot harder on the gas. After several moments a large building that Morgan knew to be the hospital came into view and he swerved down a road before pulling into the emergency entrance. 

He slammed onto the brakes, an alarmed look spreading on his face as Reid further slumped in his seat and Morgan didn’t waste any time in jumping out of the driver's seat, making sure to turn off the sirens as he did.

“Sir, I’m sorry but you can’t park there.” A nurse came up to him and Morgan was too panicked to think straight-

“...Are you okay? She questioned him gently as Morgan’s eyes went back to the limp form of Reid in the passenger seat. His brain finally seemed to be working again and he shook his head before sputtering, “My partner- Poison- My partner was poisoned.”

Her face paled and she looked past Morgan’s shoulders, taking note of Reid, 

“Stay right here, I’ll go get help!” He nodded dumbly and she quickly spun around, running inside the hospital.

He turned back towards Reid before running up to the passenger door and pulling it open. The young man’s head hung limply against his chest and Morgan felt his breath catch in his throat at the realization that Reid wasn’t breathing.

“Spencer!” He grabbed onto his shoulders and forced his head to loll back. His lips were tinted blue and a split second later he could hear people pushing a gurney towards him.

“I need you to move alright.” A doctor told him, gently pushing him out of the way so that he could reach Reid. All Morgan could do was stand there in shock as they loaded his lifeless body onto a gurney, shouting medical terms that he didn’t understand, before pushing him into the hospital and out of Morgan’s sight.

Morgan couldn’t help but wonder if he was too late.

***

Reid’s body felt light. Sort of like he was a cloud floating in the sky.

He vaguely registered that connection was one of the weirder ones he’s ever made, but his brain felt too fuzzy to actually dwell on the thought.

Where was he? He remembered going to interview the 1st victim’s girlfriend, but he doesn’t remember much after that…

He laid quietly for a few moments, not feeling in much of a rush to try and remember. He felt nice and warm right now and he wasn’t keen on ruining the feeling.

Even so, it seemed his brain betrayed him as it always did because he started to pick up the distant sound of beeping, coming from somewhere beside him.

A hospital. He was in a hospital.

And just like that, the warm and fuzzy feeling was gone. He still felt light and like he couldn’t feel his limbs but instead of finding it nice, he only found it disconcerting.

He hated hospitals- Why was he in a hospital?

He strained his memory to remember what had happened after they got to the victim’s house. He remembers asking the girlfriend for a cup of coffee and listening in on the conversation her and Morgan were having.

Oh- 

As if someone flipped a switch, Reid suddenly remembered everything that had led up to him ending up where he was now. He remembered feeling weird and then recognizing that he’d been poisoned, he remembered the unsub getting away and Morgan staying by his side, being picked up by the older man and buckled into the passenger seat and after that all he remembers is darkness and pain.

He forced his heavy eyelids open to assess the damage that he took, but was forced to blink several times at the brightness of the hospital room's interior. Now that he was gaining more coherency, he felt the rough and unpleasant feeling of hospital sheets over his body, scrunching his nose as he also registered he had been changed into a gown.

It took several more moments for his vision to come into focus but when it did Reid’s eyes immediately fell onto the several hospital chairs that had been pulled to the side of the bed. One of them was empty, a coat was slung over the back that Reid knew to be Gideon’s and on the other sat a dazed Morgan who hadn't seemed to notice that he was awake.

He tried pulling himself into more of a sitting position, groaning when he did and finally Morgan’s eyes snapped up to meet his own, “Reid-” He breathed out in relief, immediately coming over to the young geniuses side to help him sit up.

Reid was embarrassed but grateful nonetheless with the help and was pleasantly surprised that there was only a slight ache in his body. He supposed that he was probably on some pretty strong meds right now to combat the poison, or else he wouldn't have been as comfortable.

“How are you feeling?” Morgan asked quietly, sitting himself back onto the hospital chair.

Reid swallowed, his throat dry before responding, “I... feel fine-” Morgan gave him a look that said he didn’t believe the younger man but he didn’t press any further.

Reid opened his mouth to speak more but his throat was too dry and he just ended up coughing. Morgan seemed to understand because he grabbed a cup of water that was at the side of the bed and gave Reid the straw so he could drink some of it.

Immediately after he swallowed the water, he felt loads better. His throat didn’t feel as dry and even some of the leftover haze seemed to leave his head. After he was done Morgan placed the cup back onto the table before giving Reid another concerned look,

“Are you sure you're okay?” He asked, worry evident in his tone.

“Yeah… I actually don’t feel much of anything if I’m being honest-” His voice was still slightly hoarse, but it was better than before he had some water. Morgan relaxed slightly in his seat but Reid could still tell that something was bothering him.

“Did you guys catch the unsub?” He asked, unsure of what else he should try saying in this situation. He hated hospitals as was and the fact that the others could see him in such a vulnerable state only added to his anxiety.

“Yeah, Hotch and Elle apprehended her a few hours ago. Gideon had to leave for a bit to help back at the station, but I didn’t want to leave you alone.” Reid’s eyebrows pinched together. They caught the unsub hours ago?

“...How long was I out?” He questioned hesitantly, not sure whether he wanted to hear an answer or not.

Morgan locked eyes with him and there was such an overwhelming sadness within them that Reid instinctively reached out and put his hand atop the older Agent’s bigger hand. Morgan knew how much Reid seemed to hate physical contact, especially when it had to do with people’s hands, so the gesture obviously meant a lot to him as he further relaxed in his seat.

“We almost lost you…” Morgan began quietly. Reid’s eyebrows shot up in surprise and suddenly the older man’s behaviour made a lot more sense.

“You were barely breathing when we got to the hospital and the doctors spent hours trying to flush the poison out of your system… You’ve been out for over a day.” He explained quietly and Reid wondered just how close to death he had been-

If he strained his memory hard enough he can sort of remember the bright lights of the ER and just how sick he felt, but there wasn’t any concrete recollection…

His gaze strayed from Morgan and instead fell back onto the empty seat, “Do you think he’ll be back soon?” He knew the answer even before the older man said anything,

“I’m not sure… I’m sorry kid-” 

Reid frowned and turned back to Morgan, “You don’t have anything to apologize for…”

“I tried getting him to stay, but you know how he is. Whenever he feels guilty or sad he distances himself from everyone…” Morgan shifted in his seat and Reid sighed.

It was probably best that Gideon wasn’t here. The older man was one of the best FBI profilers out there, he was more useful at the police precinct then he was with Spencer.

Even so, he couldn’t help but feel sort of hurt… He had told Gideon how much he hated hospitals and the older man, knowing that, had still left him because of his… would it be considered selfishness?

“Thank you for staying with me…” Reid finally said after a moment of silence. His words were sincere and they brought a small smile onto Morgan’s face. It was only then that he realized he still hadn’t moved his hand away from Morgan’s but just as he went to remove it, the older man grabbed onto his hand and squeezed it,

“I’ll always be here for you kid… Even when others aren’t.”

Reid smiled, and for the first time in his career, he felt his adoration for Gideon waver to the man in front of him.

**Author's Note:**

> I would like to say that I actually don't hate Gideon- He's a very complicated character that I have a lot of mixed emotions about, but I don't see him as being a "bad" person, it's more that he has a lot of exposable flaws dhsavaddj
> 
> Anyways I hope you enjoyed this super rushed one shot :D


End file.
